Microsoft Celebrates 10 Years of Xbox LIVE With Free Xbox 360s

The Wii U’s North American launch is just days away, but right now another console is making headlines. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Xbox LIVE, Microsoft has been sending free, custom Xbox 360s to a select group of long-standing Xbox LIVE subscribers. Talk about a great thank you gift!

The first of these custom Xbox 360s began showing up on the doorstops of lucky, longtime Xbox LIVE subscribers at the beginning of the week, but at the time, Microsoft hadn’t said anything about it. That changed yesterday with a tweet from Larry Hryb, better known to the Xbox faithful as Major Nelson.

I can confirm we’re surprising some of the #Xbox LIVE members that have been with us the longest with one of these mjr.mn/THwudE

The custom Xbox 360s that Microsoft is sending out sport a unique grey, green and orange color scheme (check out those cooling vents!) and come decorated with artwork that reads “Xbox LIVE A Decade of Entertainment.” The metallic disc tray on the systems is emblazoned “XBL 10.” A matching grey Xbox 360 controller and a year of free Xbox LIVE Gold rounds out the generous – and extremely cool – package. Take a look at some pics of the system below, courtesy of All Games Beta.

So, how do you get one? Right now, consoles are (apparently) going out to players who’ve been Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers from day one, though how many of them will ultimately end up with shiny new systems remains to be seen. In a statement delivered to CNET, a Microsoft representative touches on just who is being rewarded.

“We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Xbox Live by conducting special promotions for our members worldwide, and today we began to surprise a select number of our loyal 10-year Xbox Live members in the U.S. with special edition anniversary consoles.”

Thankfully, players who haven’t ponied up a decade’s worth of Xbox LIVE subscription fees aren’t entirely out of luck – they’ll have a shot at scoring one of the custom consoles, too. Details on how players can win one of the anniversary systems are slated to go up tomorrow morning (Thursday, November 15, 2012) on majornelson.com, so be sure to give the site a visit.

It’s easy enough to take potshots at Xbox LIVE: it’s the only console service that charges its users a subscription fee for playing games online, and there’s a fair chance that anyone who’s been a subscriber for 10 years has lost one (or more) Xbox 360s to the Red Ring of Death. That being said, there’s no telling where online console gaming would be without Xbox LIVE, and Microsoft’s decision to reward the service’s most ardent supporters – without, it must be said, much self-congratulatory fanfare – should be applauded. Good going, Microsoft!

Ranters, have any of you received one of the custom Xbox 360s? We’d love to hear from you!